Thanksgiving showed up fast, didn’t it? And suddenly all of the food I’ve been dreaming about all year has to suddenly appear on the table so I can eat it, a bucket of Zantac at my side (my cousin's genius contribution).

Which means I have little time for chatter.

Instead, I will leave you with the most incredible Apple Crumble Crostata, so simple and perfect for a party cause it’s largely do ahead and a nice change from the pumpkin inundation of the season. I'll serve mine with salted caramel ice cream (because ice cream), the recipe for which I’ve also included below. But, it in no way needs it, particularly if you do like I plan to and serve the leftovers for breakfast the day after (my guests will stay over and need to be fed – the bastards).

With that, I leave you to have a wonderful, happy and totally food-filled Thanksgiving!!

Apple Crumble Crostata

Serves 8 (12 with ice cream, maybe)

Crostatas are the Italian version of the French galette, essentially free-form pies. I love them because they come together in a pinch and look great no matter what, as they are meant to be rustic in appearance. Plus, in contrast to traditional pies, the crust gets flakier and stays so longer because more air circulates around the exposed dough during baking. So, what's not to love?

Crust:

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

⅓ cup ice cold water, more as needed

1 egg, beaten (for assembly)

Raw sugar, for garnish

Filling:

6 to 8 Granny Smith or other tart apples, peeled. Original recipe has you cut into 16 slices each, but I cut mine super thin so that they are super delicate once cooked (about 6 cups total)

¼ cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cornstarch

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon lemon zest

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Crumble:

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

Salted caramel ice cream, for serving (optional)

First, make the crust:

Mix flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and blend for 5 seconds. Add butter, pulsing, until mixture resembles small peas. Add lemon juice, then 1/4 cup of the ice water and continue to pulse until mixture comes together in moist clumps; this dough is best is a little on the wet side, so if it seems dry, add more water, up to the 1/3 cup, 1 tablespoon at a time. Gather dough into a ball, flatten into a disc, wrap in plastic and chill for at least an hour. If freezing, triple wrap in plastic wrap then place in Ziplock. Keeps for up to a month, this way. Defrost overnight in fridge before using.

For the crumble:

In a medium bowl, mix together granulated sugar, flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Drizzle in melted butter and, using a fork, stir until mixture is crumbly and all the flour is incorporated; the crumbs should be smaller than 1 inch. If not using right away, keeps in fridge up to 3 days, or freezes for up to a month. Defrost overnight in fridge before using.

When ready to assemble, make the filling:

In a large bowl toss together sliced apples, brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, zest and vanilla. Set aside.

Finally, to bake:

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and heat oven to 375F. Remove dough from refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes. On a lightly floured surface (I do it right on the parchment), roll the dough into a 14-inch circle. Transfer to baking sheet and chill until firm, about 15 minutes.

Remove baking sheet from fridge and let soften for a minute or two. Get out your beaten egg. Arrange filling evenly over the center of the dough, leaving a 4 inch border all around. Reserve any juices. Brush expose dough with egg, then fold edges in and up over the fruit, pleating every 2 inches or so. Pour remaining juices over expose fruit (I don't do this), brush folded outer edge with beaten egg and sprinkle with the raw sugar. Cover exposed fruit with as much crumble as you want - I like it crumble heavy.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until nice and browned and fruit is bubbling. Let cool a bit, then serve with Salted Caramel Ice Cream (recipe below!)

Recipe adapted from Claudia Fleming, NYT Cooking.

Salted Caramel Ice Cream (slight variation on Molly Moon's Recipe!!)

This is the easiest recipe for salted caramel ice cream. The original calls for 1 tablespoon of salt, which I always loved when eating at her shop, but seemed overwhelming in my own homemade batches. I have since halved the amount of salt, and love it even more, I think. Though clearly great with apple crostata (ahem), it is wonderful with chocolate chip cookies, hot fudge, or even all by its lonesome. Note that the amount of salt will keep the ice cream at a softer consistency than most other varieties - something, I think, that makes it all that more awesomey.

1/8 tsp lemon juice

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 T unsalted butter

3 C heavy cream

1 C whole milk

1/2 T kosher salt

Over medium high heat, in a heavy bottom medium size saucepan, add lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until sugar has melted/dissolved. Add remaining sugar, also 1/4 cup at a time, in a similar fashion, again making sure each batch has dissolved before adding the next. After all sugar has been added, cook an additional 4-6 minutes, until the mixture has caramelized to a dark, golden brown. Switch to a whisk and add butter, mixing in carefully until melted. Then, reduce heat to medium low and VERY CAREFULLY whisk in cream and milk. The cream will steam significantly (and its REALLY HOT!!), so beware. The caramel will seize and adhere to the whisk, but just continue stirring gently until you bring the cream/milk mixture to a gentle simmer and the caramel starts to melt off the whisk. This may take a few minutes.

Remove from heat and pour mixture into a shallow pan. Cool in fridge until completely chilled, 4 hours and up to 3 days.

When ready to churn, add in salt and pour into ice cream maker, processing according to manufacturers instructions. Store in airtight container and freeze for at least four hours before serving. Keeps in freezer about a week.